


It All Comes Back to Us

by Shi_Toyu



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Steve Rogers, Salt, Spoilers, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Being Tony, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 13:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14569809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: Steve sees Tony again after the events of Infinity War.





	It All Comes Back to Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mistrstank (dreamingdarkly)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingdarkly/gifts).



Steve was in a War Council when the news of Tony’s arrival came in. That’s what they were calling it, a war. When half of Earth’s population was wiped out in one fell swoop, all of Steve’s actions concerning the Accords had been forgiven. His and the other Avenger’s. Not that there were many of them left. The leaders of the world, what was left of them, had decided that Steve and his team were their best hope. Steve wanted to scream at them that the war was over. They’d _lost._ And their best hope for winning it was a man he should have trusted but betrayed instead.

Watching Bucky disappear, kneeling over Vision’s body, that was the moment Steve understood what Tony had been fretting over all those years before. He _finally_ understood the nightmare Tony had brought back with him through the portal, too late. Tony had been the only one preparing for Thanos to come. No wonder he’d created Ultron, or the program behind him at least. Suddenly his army of Iron Man suits, the whole Iron Legion, made so much _sense._ Tony had known what was coming, had been fighting this war from the beginning, and none of them had listened to him.

Six _years_. And now it was over.

Steve had honestly given up on Tony making it back from space. Nobody knew where he was or if he was even alive and Steve couldn’t hold onto that hope just for it to be taken away from him. It’d been better for him to just let Tony go. But now Tony was _here_ and he would figure out a way to _fix this._ Steve didn’t know how, but Tony always, always had a solution for everything. He could fix anything. Even this. Even if fixing it only meant revenge.

He rushed out of the meeting, not that he thought anyone expected him to do differently. Nat met him on the airstrip less than a minute later, a quinjet primed and ready to go. The flight was agony, the waiting torturous. Nat threw him a sympathetic look.

“Only Tony, huh?” she asked, and Steve had to grin back.

“Only Tony,” he agreed.

He felt like he finally had _hope_ again.

It all crumbled around him when he finally laid eyes on Tony. The man was gaunt, haunted in a way he’d never been even with the nightmares. His eyes didn’t contain any of their usual fire, just a cold smoldering that could have been mistaken for the faceplate of his armor. An alien woman with cybernetic parts flanked him, eyeing them warily.

“Of course,” Tony mumbled quietly, seemingly more to himself than to anyone in the room. “Of course, you’re still here.”

Steve flinched, stung by Tony’s words as much as his tired, exhausted tone.

“Tony…”

Tony made a rolling gesture with his hand.

“Out with it. What do you need this time?”

“What? No!”

“Then I suggest you get out,” Tony spat. “I’m kind of in the middle of something here. I didn’t trek halfway across the universe just to watch you flap those pretty lips.”

“How can you-? I’m here to _help_ , Tony! And to welcome you back home!”

Tony’s bark of laughter was bitter and broken, sharp like shattered glass.

“Help with what, exactly?” he asked with an exaggerated smile that was all teeth. “I failed. It’s over. Game, set, match. Every one of the people I considered my friends are _dead_ except Rhodey.”

That stung, the not-so-subtle insinuation that they weren’t his friends, but Steve straightened his spine. Tony was grieving. He understood that. He understood what it was like to lose everyone. This, he could help with.

“I know,” he said softly, stepping closer, “and I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you sooner. You were right, Tony. I just took too long to see it.”

Tony grit his teeth, tears gathering in his eyes, and it suddenly occurred to Steve that he’d never seen the man cry before. A part of him had never even considered it a possibility.

“Peter died in my _arms_ , Steve,” he choked out, and that was all it took for Steve to cross the space between them and pull Tony into a hug.

So, Tony didn’t have all the answers. That was okay. Steve could work with that. All that meant was they would have to find a way together. And together was the way Steve liked him and Tony best.

**Author's Note:**

> Going to take a brief break from Infinity War fics (two whole days!) but then I'll be back with more!


End file.
